Israeli Plan to re-route fuel deliveries to Bethlehem hints at larger segregation plan

Date: 17 / 02 / 2008 Time: 12:51
Bethlehem – Ma'an –

An Israeli decision to re-route fuel deliveries to the West Bank city of Bethlehem through a checkpoint far to the south of the city is raising concerns that Israel plans to complete a plan to isolate Bethlehem from the surrounding area.

The governor of Bethlehem, Salah Al-Ta'amari, said on Sunday that the plan to make fuel deliveries at the Tarqoumiya crossing point, near the city of Hebron, instead of Al-Khader, near Bethlehem, is dangerous.

Earlier Ta'amari met with a delegation representing gas station owners in the Bethlehem area. The gas station owners delivered a petition calling on Palestinian officials to stop the plan.

Al-Ta'amari said the plan will increase already high fuel prices, and could signal a plan to complete Israel's illegal separation wall in the Bethlehem area. He said the plan could also involve the long-expected closure of Route 60, the main highway between Bethlehem and Hebron. Shutting down that road would force Palestinians to take a longer, more circuitous route between the two cities.

The governor contacted the Palestinian Prime Minister's Office immediately to update them on the new developments.

He also called on the international community and the Quartet to exert pressure on Israel and get them to stop unilateral decisions that add to the Palestinian people's suffering.

For their part, the gas station owners say that they will refuse to cooperate with the plan, and will not receive deliveries at Tarqoumiya crossing.

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